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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. stand — to bear
  4. court — of law
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — for catching
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. prune — to trim
  14. court — of a king
  15. row — to paddle
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. race — the arms race
  18. spell — letters
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. race — a contest
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — after costs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com